The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oral Roberts
Baseball earns 4-3 win against Oral Roberts
03.12.2013 | Baseball
March 12, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas - Weston Hall's RBI single capped a two-out rally in the eighth Tuesday as the Texas Longhorns secured its fifth-straight with the 4-3 decision over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in a non-conference game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. The Golden Eagles rallied with two in the top of the eighth off Texas closer Corey Knebel, but the junior righty would strike out the side in the ninth to secure the win.
Mark Payton and C.J Hinojosa had two hits each for the Longhorns (11-5) while Tyler Boss had all three RBI for the Golden Eagles (5-10) in a 2-for-3 evening with two triples.
Payton led off the Texas second with a triple and scored on Hinojosa's RBI groundout for the1-0 lead. Boss brought home Jose Trevino from first in the top of the fourth to tie it at 1-1.
Jacob Felts doubled to being the Longhorn fifth, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brooks Marlow and scored on freshman Mark Gottsacker's sacrifice fly to right. Gottsacker made his collegiate debut in center field tonight for the Longhorns.
With the bases loaded for Texas in the sixth, Felts hit a ground ball to short that looked to be the final out, but designated hitter Matt Moynihan beat the throw to second as UT took the 3-1 lead.
ORU had runners at first and second with two outs as Knebel entered the game to face Boss, who drilled an 0-1 pitch to right center for a two-run triple to tie the game. Brooks Marlow started the two-out rally with a single to center in the bottom of the eighth. Collin Shaw, who came into the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth, knocked an 0-2 pitch into right field for a single for runners at first and second. Hall, who also came in as a defensive replacement, hit a hard grounder to second that glanced off Matt Brandy for the go-ahead run.
Despite giving up the tying runs, Knebel answered by striking out the side to secure the win for the Longhorns.
Texas opens Big 12 play this weekend at home against Texas Tech. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and 1 p.m. start on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network with radio on AM 1300 The Zone. Gametracker live stats will be available on TexasSports.com with live Twitter updates @Texas_Baseball.
Notes: Mark Payton recorded two assists in a game for the first time in his career with a double play in the first and sixth innings...Texas is now 5-1 in one-run games this season after going 5-7 last season...freshman outfielder Mark Gottsacker made his collegiate debut tonight...Texas recorded double-digit hits for the fifth time this season and third time in the last four games...the Longhorns are hitting .315 in their last four games...Payton now has 10 triples in his career...the Longhorns allowed a season-high seven walks...Texas pitchers have a 2.31 ERA in 13 home games this season with opponents hitting just .224 against them.
ORU 000-100-020---3-7-2 TEXAS 010-011-01x---4-11-0
Records: Texas (11-5), Oral Roberts (5-10) WP - Knebel (1-1) LP - Smith (0-1) T - 2:53 ATT - 5,843
Giller, Trujillo (5), Smith (7), Garza (8) and Trevino. Hollingsworth, Boardman (5), Urban (6), Duke (7), T. Marlow (8), Knebel (8) and Felts.
Post-Game Quotes
Texas head coach Augie Garrido
On Corey Knebel coming back after allowing game-tying runs: I guess (Corey) was finally tired of getting saves all of these years so he set himself up for a win. He made a good pitch on (Boss). He just did a good job of squaring up on the ball and it took off. He went right after in the ninth inning and got back in his groove. It was good. We had a lot of opportunities and I think we played a very good defensive game. We didn't do anything defensively that gave them bases or extra outs which is what we are always trying to do. We had some clutch hits. All in all it was a good college baseball game.
On defensive play of Brooks Marlow and C.J Hinojosa in the middle infield: It was the difference in the game. Brooks made a great catch (over the shoulder). (Brooks) is playing very well defensively and starting to hit. If we can get him performing at a consistent level, it will just add another thing to this team.
